Thoughts from a local (Twin Falls, ID) photographer

* for seasoned or new-be photographers.

I have a fact for you to consider. All of us (that photograph) have clients, the typical process is:

schedule & take the pictures

pick out the good ones & do a basic retouch

post the images you produced, to a gallery (private or not), for your clients to view or pick.

Did you know, the pictures you posted to your gallery or pass-worded galleries are soooooooo easy to obtain or steal. Some web services even charge or claim that you are protected with a right-click / drag-and-drop protection. This is not the case, even with little to no knowledge of source code, your pics are easily obtainable by a few clicks.

Here’s my personal opinion, I would suggest adding a watermark of some sort, for ANY IMAGES provided for viewing or reviewing digitally. Maybe even one that is barely noticeable but yet would deter from printing, until finalized.

More people than you would think, are cheap and always trying to get something free.

Imagine this scenario, you take pictures for a client, you post their pictures to a private gallery and you get a call that they supposedly hate them and want their money back. No matter how much you talk back-and-forth they are finished with you. You lose all or some of the money and time you worked for, to save your reputation.

About a week later, you get a call or come across a comment from a friend about how great the photos you took look printed, they saw them from a friend of a friend. This scenario is very possible and probably happens more than you would think.

Make sure to be smart and put protection where it needs it. I know that is nearly impossible to control everything, but at least this would give you some connection to your product and a connection that could be taken to court. Don’t let your art/photos/time get stolen.